I'll be there
by Laurarosexo
Summary: Betty finds Jughead in the middle of the night alone at school, completely distraught and needing comfort, can she be everything he needs or will she just let him down like everybody else?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

she didn't know why her fellings toward him had changed, I mean c'mon this was Jughed Jones, self certified loner and bad boy extraordinaire, it was never going to happen, if not for the fact her mother would most definitely have her institutionalised as she had done to Betty's sister not so long ago. She was certain that even if by some miracle she could gain her mothers approval Jughead had never seen her as anything more than an occasional writing partner and the best friend of the only person he'd ever admit to being friends with, Archie Andrews. Whom Betty, up until tonight thought she was in love with, it was after all the kind of love story that she'd read about in countless novels, neighbours their whole lives, bestfriends since before they could walk, forever spending every spare second they had together whether that be in person or on they phone and lets not forget the treehouse right where their gardens joined together that they would sneak out to night after night just to prolong the time they shared but in this moment the more she thought about it the more she realised that shed never actually been in love with Archie but with the idea of it all. And since Jughead had decided to join Betty on the schools newspaper 'the blue and gold' which before his arrival Betty had written,edited and printed alone, it had hit her how she'd never noticed that his bad boy image was just that, an image, a front put up to protect hime fom any further heartache than he'd already experienced from being abandoned by his mother and left with the choice to either fend for himself or stay with his alcoholic father. But standing here now, in the middle of the night, in the school she'd presumed was empty she could hear his sobs, hear the the screams, muffled by what she could only presume was his fist as he tried to keep it together and she knew in that moment that he was just a broken boy with nobody to turn to for comfort. She'd learnt from her own experience that crying alone was one of the most soul crushing things to have to do, so despite not knowing what his reaction would be when she found hime she set out on her search following the heartbreaking cries until she found herself outside the tiny closet beneath a staircase gently she tapped on the door hoping not to startle him and although the crying had stopped there was no acknowledgement that he'd recognised the tapping as someone being there rather than just a creak from the old building so she tapped again, this time softly calling out to him 'Juggie, it's me' praying that he'd recognise her voice and after a few agonising seconds the door flew open and nothing on this earth could have prepared her for the pain she felt as she looked into his puffy swollen eyes still streaming with tears, and in his breif moment of vunerability he threw his arms around her, clinging to her in that moment like she she more important to him than oxygen itselfs eliciting tears of her own as she tried to figure out what she could do to help this poor beautiful soul who so desperately needed it, quite qiuckly deciding that the best thing to do right now was to give him the love he clearly deserved so she held him, for what seemed like hours until his broken howls disaperated to deep wracking breaths. 'i'm so alone' it was less than a whisper, but the pain those three words carried was almost unbearable 'no jug, you're not alone, not anymore, i'm here and with god as my witness i swear to you that you'll never have to be alone again' she didn't know what made her say it, it was a promise that would be almost impossible to keep, but even as the words tumbled out of her mouth she knew in her heart that she'd do whatever it would take to keep true to her word, anything in her power to make sure that he never had to feel this way again and holding on to that thought she started to hatch a plan. 


	2. Chapter 2

As Betty continued to think about how she could help Jughead she noticed that his breathing had become shallow and even, the telltale sign that sleep had arrived and she couldn't bring herself to wake him.  
It was 05:03am on a saturday and she knew he needed his rest after what had happened, meanwhile her inquisitive mind couldn't help but wonder why, what awful thing had pushed The Jughead Jones to breaking point and would he still be breaking if she hadn't arrived?

She gently manoeuvred him off her lap and into what looked like a makeshift bed on the floor; how long had he been here?  
As far as she knew he'd been staying with FP, at least that's what he'd told her. There were so many questions buzzing round her head and as Jug began to softly snore she knew that none of them were being answered any time soon so instead she proceeded to pack what few things he had here into his rucksack because there was no way he was spending another night here.

Her parents were away at a journalism convention in new york for the next 4 days so he'd come home with her whilst they figured something out, it was a temporary solution to both of their promblems given the only reason she'd been at the high school in the middle of the night during summer vacation was because she didn't feel safe at home alone and with the tought of having company to keep the fear at bay she lay down next to Jug and closed her eyes willing the sleep that she had been craving to come and withing minutes her breathing matched his and they slept the most peaceful sleep either of them could remeber having in months.

She was completely disorientated when she finally woke, forgetting for a moment what had happened in the small hours of this morning until she realised that Jughead was still next to her, fully awake but with a look of utter confusion on his face like he did'nt understand why she was there. Without thinking she reached out and began to stroke his cheek, ignoring the shivers the feel of his rough stubble against her fingers was sending down her spine. 'Hey there, how're you feeling?' he blinked at her a few times as if making sure she was really there but rasied his hand to hers as she tried to withdraw it 'please...don't...' he begged, his pain evident in his words.

Little did Betty know that this was the first time anybody had shown him any affection since his mom left and he'd no idea just how much he needed it until now, so she continued her caress, aware of just how hot it was getting in this tiny space as his eyes bore into her with an intensity she'd never seen before, she could'nt say how long it was before he spoke again 'I'm so sorry betts' and she snorted, an actual physical snort 'Don't you dare apologise, especially for having feelings Jug, do you want to talk about it or would you rather go and get some food first? we could go to Pop's, my treat of course' this was slightly more tactical than sincere, she knew that Jughead would never turn down the offer of free food and she needed to get out of here is she was going to focus on anything but how close they were right now.

The low rumble of his stomach was enough of an answer for both of them as they stood and gathered their belongings, Jughead noticed his bag had been packed but decided it best not to say anything, he d just sneak back her once they d finished at pop s, it s not like he had anywhere else to go and once they were both sure they d got everything they needed they exited the tiny closet and what happened next was something completely unexpected, for both of them, Jughead laced his fingers with hers and after giving him a reassuring squeeze back they walked like that all the way to pop s, hand in hand like it was the most natural thing in the world for them, and to each of their surprise it felt that way, like this was natural and it wasn t until they d arrived at their usual booth in pop s that they both realised that they didn t want to let go of the other, so instead they sat side by side, Betty s thumb skimming back and forth across his knuckles and he was shocked at just how soothing it was, and that with every stroke he could feel his tension melting away.

After a glorious feast of burgers, onion rings and cheese fries, washed down with multiple coffees and milkshakes, Jughead felt content which was laughable given he can t ever remember feeling anything even close to this and it was all thanks to Betty, he didn t know what she was doing, but a part of him, bigger than he would ever admit was wishing that she d never stop and with that he brought her hand, still interlocked with his up to his mouth and kissed it Thank you for this it didn t feel like anywhere near enough to say but it was all he had, she smiled and honest and sincere smile that told him he wasn t the only one enjoying this and then took a deep breath why have you been sleeping at the school Juggie, what s FP done this time? And the look of disappointment on his face said all she needed to know come home with me tonight, mom and dad are away and I don t think either of us really wants to be alone right now, we ve got plenty of food, a hot shower and a much comfier bed than the floor of that closet he looked at her, her eyes pleading with him and while a huge part of him was doing backflips at the thought of not having to sleep on a cold hard floor again he also didn t want her pity and as if she could read his mind she said please Juggie, this is as much for my sake as it is yours, more so in fact, please don t make me stay alone something flashed across her eyes that he recognised immediately, she was lonely, she felt alone just like he did and with that his mind was made up, he was going home with the Betty Cooper, the only girl he d ever loved (not that she knew that) and he couldn t have been happier


End file.
